North Somerset church to be sold for housing after declining congregation
Worshippers also said they're struggling to keep up with maintenance costs
Worshippers in a North Somerset town are having to sell the chapel that has been their home for almost 200 years.
Faced with a declining congregation and costs they could not keep up with, the congregation of Copse Road Chapel in Clevedon held a church meeting and took a vote on what to do.
Now they will be continuing their services in the smaller hall while the chapel will be turned into flats.
Pastor Sukesh Pabari said: “We can no longer afford the upkeep of the building so we have to move building to a more affordable place.”
He added: “The church is not the building. The church is the people.”
The non-conformist Evangelical church was built in 1851 by the corner of Seavale Road and Copse Road, with a smaller hall built next to it in 1877. But a declining congregation over the last 20 years — a not uncommon situation for many churches — has seen the cost of maintaining the building outstrip the resources available to the church community.
Mr Pabari said: “We had a church meeting to decide what do we do about the situation and the best solution was to sell the building.”
A planning application has now been submitted to North Somerset Council to turn the Grade II listed chapel into seven flats. The plans would see a new floor installed in the chapel to create five split-level flats. They would have bedrooms on the ground floor and living spaces on new first floor “that highlights the grandeur of the main Chapel and the ornate trusses above you.”
Two further flats would be located on the basement level. The only external changes to the building would be to create new windows. A statement submitted with the planning application said: “The proposed scheme for Copse Road Chapel has been designed in a manner that is sympathetic to the character of the listed building. The introduction of new window openings to the external fabric has been carefully considered to maintain the quality of design whilst creating desirable living spaces internally.”
The congregation will continue to meet in the attached smaller hall. Mr Pabari said: “The important thing is to have a community that worships and makes known the teaching of the Bible to the town.”
He added: “We are a very friendly congregation. We welcome everybody who comes.”